Thursday, April 7, 2011

A Game Info Question Answered By Johngy

Last weekend, I got together with a group of old friends to partake in our yearly draft for our fantasy baseball league.  Mike Fuhr, leader of the Fightin' Fury and regular reader of this site, mentioned he was looking for info about an old game-action photo from a White Sox game.  Mike had seen me write about identifying specific games from old pictures and baseball cards and hoped I (or more likely, one of the other bloggers who are much better at this than I am) could figure out the specifics.
When Mike sent it to me the other day, I was able to get most of the info on my own.  The date was Friday, October 2, 1959.  It was Game 2 of the 1959 World Series.  It was the top of the 7th inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers trailed the Chicago White Sox 2-1.
Bob Shaw was pitching for the Sox.  There were two outs.  Neal Essegian hit a solo homer.  Junior Gilliam walked.  Charley Neal came up to bat with Gilliam on 1st and the score now tied.
Neal hit a homer to deep center.  In the excitement, a fan (accidentally, from all accounts) knocked over his beer and it fell right on White Sox outfielder Al Smith (#16) who had already given up on the ball.  The Dodgers won the game 4-3 and ultimately won the World Series 4-2.
Mike asked if the ball is visible anywhere.  I found a set of four pictures from the Tribune photo vault.  In picture #4, it looks like the guy wearing a hat and facing sideways with his hand(s?) extended might be holding (and showing off) the ball.  Others appear to be looking and pointing at him.
Further research showed that the beer which was spilled was Hamm's (the beer refreshing Hammmmmms).  I could not determine the price of that beer, nor the name of the infamous beer-spiller.
Okay Mike.  I think that should answer most of your questions regarding this photo.  I hope it brings you peace of mind, too.  For me, it gave me a topic for the day!  Great seeing you.

2 comments:

Steve Gierman said...

For another angle of that beer spill, check out card #47 of the WSC Facebook series.

Johngy said...

Steve-
Thanks for the additional info. Steve's link is...


http://www.facebook.com/WhiteSoxCards#!/photo.php?fbid=205191652840178&set=a.107783442581000.14316.107553805937297&theater